Improvement in fotato-digkmir



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CHESTER PALMER. OF WILLOUGHBY,` OHIO.

Leim ramt No. 88,199, glazed Mmn 2s, 1869.

POVEIWENT IN POTATO-DIG-G'ER.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making put o! theunie.

To all whom it ma-j/ concern.:V

Be it known 'that I, CHESTER PALMER, ofvviuoughby, in the county ofLake, and in the State of Ohio,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Potato-Diggers; and dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof', reference being' had to the accompanying drawing,making a part of this speciicationfin which-.-

, Figure 1 is a diagonal side perspective view of the' machine.

Figure 2 is a view of thel rear end of tl1e-share,with

the separator attached. e

To a trame-work, A, composedof side-pieces of wood, two or three inchesthick, bythree to five inches high,

and about four or five feet longfare fastened handles, like those toplows, to the inside of the rear ends of said side-pieces.

These side-pieces are connected, at a distance apart of from two tothree feet, by wooden crossf-barsgaiidhave .they are fastened upon theside-pieces, for the purpose of givinga long,- bearing upon `the wood,and another curve laterally outward, and then inward, so to co# incidewith 'the -curved wings of the share,vwhere '1t isjoined to them, Y

The share B,'t`rom two to three feet wide, has a general triangularform, with an obtuse angle at its front,

v'and acute angles at the wings, and maybe made of This share has ahupward curve in the centre, and downwardcurvesbween the centre and thewings, and the wings are tu ned up in acurve, as high as the ltop ofthecentre.

To the under side of the front angle of the snare a flat, wedge-shapediron or steel-point, Gis riveted.

To the r'ear of the share, upon the under side, a nar- ',row, thin plateof iron, E, is fastened bv screws, in which plate are inserted eight totwelve tines, equidistant, from eighteen to twenty-four inches long.

These tines D may be made of half-inch iron rods, A

and have a general upa-iardl curve. in a line with the direction of thatpart of the shareto which they are severally attached, and bending down.irregularly toward their points. y

When in use, and attached tol a team, this machine is-placed iu apotato-row, without the separator, whenl lthe vines are green and fastto the tnbers. The point of the share enters the earth, just below thepotatoes,

and raises the whole hill quite rapidly in the centre,

-where the share rises in a curve, loosening every por tion of' theearth'so raised, and depositing it, after the share has passed under itby the contracting curves of the wings, so that the'hill is flattened,the rines are left upright, with the potatoes fast to them, `quite neartothe surface, with the earth,'abont and above them,

thorough] ylooscned and pulverized,l so that the laborer, who` followsafter, may graspall tile vines of each hillA withA his hands, andreadily draw them up, with the 'tubers,'and shake them Voil upontheground, or into ia; vessel.

When the vines, are dead, and not fast tothe toes, the separator isattached to the share, and, in

'that case, the earth falls between the tines, after the r share passesunder the hill, and the tubers and vines pass over the tines, and ,fallloosely upon the ground.

This machlinc'may be .constructed by almost any farmer, with ltheassistance of a common blacksmith, at a cost of fieen dollars; aldhasproved, upon actua-l trial, tobe capable of raising, and preparing forgathering, two hundred bushels of potatoes per hour, leaving the earth`frable, and saving one plowing.

The machine is very light, and, by its peculiar form of share, very easyof draught, readily managed,1not

liable to get out of order, cheaply and quickly repaired,

-aud so eiective as to save more than one-half of the 'ordinary labor ofdigging by hand. What I claim as my invention, and desire-to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. In combination with the 'share B, the detachable separator E'D,substantially as described, and for the purposes setforth. 2. Also,'thearrangement and combination of the share B and sepxatorE D, with theframe A, substan-`l tially as described, and for the purposes. setforth.

1u testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have herel unto set my hand,this 11th day of February, 1869. CHESTER PALMER. -Witnesses'z O. H.Susann,

A. B. Barn.

